Collection of The New-York Historical Society

In the 1850s, Missouri had become an exporting state. This auction sale, which took place in 1859, offered for sale fifty-three people aged from two to forty years. Three women were offered for sale with their young children, but other children were sold on their own, without their parents. Two men had "defects" and were therefore not guaranteed: Minus was deaf and Jim, aged fourteen, had been a fugitive.